Chainsaw artist to auction work for hospice facility

Chainsaw artist Darren Brake is putting his latest sculpture up for auction to help raise money for HospiceCare, a Charleston-based organization that provides end-of-life care to 16 West Virginia counties.

“I lost my dad in January,” said Brake, 51. “He went through hospice.”

Brake will auction off his latest creation, a massive motorcycle-themed sculpture that stands about three feet tall, at the Capitol City Biker Bash, which runs today through Saturday at Haddad Riverfront Park in Charleston. In addition to the auction and donations, organizers of the event will raffle off a motorcycle, with proceeds going to HospiceCare.

Brake, who moved to Charleston from Cleveland, Ohio, learned the art of chainsaw carving by watching his father, a lifelong tinkerer and inventor.

“I watched my dad do a couple, and that’s how I learned,” Brake said. “He was a mad scientist. He made scooters and stuff and built things to run.”

“He had an old Indian motorcycle back in the day,” Brake said.

Shortly before he died from complications of cancer at the age of 76, Brake’s father bought a new motorcycle, a Yamaha 650 that Brake inherited on his death. Brake decided to fix the bike up to resemble a Harley-Davidson, and has been making motorcycle-themed chainsaw sculptures for motorcycle enthusiasts.

To Brake, it seemed natural to make one to raise money for HospiceCare.

Jeff Sikorovsky, marketing director at the facility, said HospiceCare appreciates the biker bash, which last year brought in about $5,000 by raffling off a donated motorcycle, and about another $2,200 in donations.